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Conservative pundit Tomi Lahren, who was just suspended from The Blaze days after a controversial pro-abortion rights rant on The View, was dating a Navy SEAL until. You don't need to tether a box to your HDTV to watch streaming media services or networked content. Thanks to HDMI sticks, you can give your HDTV connected features just by plugging a stick into the back and plugging a USB cable into the stick. The Google Chromecast, Roku Streaming Stick, and Amazon Fire TV Stick all stand out as functional, inexpensive, and downright tiny devices in the media hub category, and each has earned our Editors' Choice distinction. On the surface, they appear to be very similar concepts. In practice, though, they're remarkably different from each other. Roku Streaming Stick (HDMI Version) The Roku Streaming Stick is a conventional media hub. Besides its stick form, it's essentially a Roku 2 (but without the handy headphone jack in the remote). It's completely self- sufficient; plug it in, turn it on, set up the Wi- Fi connection, and you can browse content immediately through the on- screen interface. Like Roku's other media hubs, the Amazon Fire TV, and the Apple TV , the Roku Streaming Stick organizes multiple content providers in different menus you can navigate with the included remote. Flip through tiles and icons to load popular services like Netflix, Hulu Plus, and HBO GO, and more specialized . You can search for a title on the Roku Streaming Stick, and it will display the major content providers through which you can watch it, either as a free part of a subscription library service like Netflix or as a rental or purchase through an on- demand service like Vudu (or both, like Amazon Instant Video with Amazon Prime membership). You can also control and stream media from your smartphone or tablet with the free Roku app. The app serves as an alternate controller for the Roku Streaming Stick, offering navigation buttons and text input support. The Play On Roku feature can stream photos, movies, and music stored on your mobile device to the stick. Google Chromecast The Google Chromecast is a much different beast from the Roku Streaming Stick, and nearly every other media hub, for that matter. It's not a standalone entertainment device you simply plug into your HDTV and use to watch Netflix. Instead, it's better seen as an accessory for your smartphone or tablet than as anything resembling a Roku, Fire TV, or Apple TV. The Chromecast doesn't have any kind of on- screen menu system, or even a remote. In fact, when it isn't actively streaming content it will only display a rotation of wallpapers and the device's network status. You control it entirely through your smartphone, tablet, or PC. With the Android or i. OS Chromecast app installed, or with the Google Cast extension added to Chrome on your PC, you can send videos and music from different services straight from your device to your HDTV. On mobile devices, Chromecast works like Air. Play and Apple TV by adding a button to any compatible app that streams whatever you're watching to a Chromecast. Currently, Chromecast supports content from Netflix, HBO GO, Showtime, Starz, Hulu Plus, Pandora, You. Tube, Crackle, Rdio, Google Play, Songza, Plex, Viki, Vevo, Post. TV, Real. Player Cloud, Post. TV, and more. And, from your smartphone or tablet, that's about all you can do with Chromecast. The selection is nothing to sneeze at, but it pales in comparison to the Roku Streaming Stick's channels. When you add a PC to the mix, though, the Chromecast becomes more compelling. The currently released version of the Google Cast extension for Chrome lets you stream any tab you're viewing to the Chromecast. This effectively lets you watch or listen to any service with a Web app. This alone is a very nice feature that expands the content available through the Chromecast. You can even play local files by pasting the path of any video or sound file on your PC into Chrome and then streaming that tab—not the most elegant solution, but certainly powerful. You can also a Google Chrome extension, which adds some interesting features to the Chromecast through your Web browser. The extension adds full- screen streaming, letting you send anything you can display on your computer to your HDTV through the Chromecast. Don't think this will let you play PC games on your HDTV through the Chromecast, though. The latency is far too high to sync up with any game, or even reliably track your mouse movement with less than a second's worth of lag. The screen streaming feature is most useful for playing local media or displaying information in other software, and not actually turning your HDTV into a wireless monitor. Amazon Fire TV Stick. The Amazon Fire TV Stick is an interesting media device that's about 9. Roku Streaming Stick and 5 percent Google Chromecast. It's basically a smaller, slightly slower version of the Amazon Fire TV that costs less than half as much and plugs directly into the back of your HDTV (like comparing the Roku Streaming Stick to a Roku 2). It's essentially a dedicated media hub with a remote control just like the Roku Streaming Stick, but it runs a highly modified version of Android like the Chromecast. You can access many Android apps for streaming media, and even pair a Bluetooth controller with the Fire TV Stick to play games on it. The app selection is identical to the Fire TV, and is generous but not nearly as massive as the general Google Play or Amazon Appstore selections for Android smartphones and tablets. It supports Miracast, so you can mirror your Android device's screen directly to the Fire TV without an additional app like the Roku Streaming Stick requires (though i. Phone and i. Pad users should know that the i. OS Fire TV app hasn't yet been released). In terms of apps and content available, there's very little on the Roku Streaming Stick that isn't also on the Fire TV Stick, with the exception of HBO GO (which the Fire TV Stick currently lacks). The Fire TV Stick, like the Fire TV, takes a very Amazon- heavy approach to how it presents content. The movies, shows, and music available over Amazon are placed in the forefront for a curated experience integrated directly into the interface, with non- Amazon apps and services available individually in their own section. If you have Amazon Prime this is a huge boon, because Prime Video and Prime Music's libraries are available in their entirety on the Fire TV Stick and load extremely fast since they're built into the operating system. The other apps and services work fine, and offer a similar experience to the apps you would find for them on the Roku Streaming Stick or nearly any connected HDTV, Blu- ray player, or game consoles, but they aren't quite as snappy. That's because the Fire TV Stick is notably less powerful than the lightning- fast Fire TV, but still comparable in power and performance to Roku's offerings. It's also $1. 0 less, and just $4 more than the Chromecast. Which is Better? For casual media consumers, the Amazon Fire TV Stick and Roku Streaming Stick are the superior products, hands down. You can use either with the included remotes without even touching a smartphone, while the Chromecast needs a mobile device or computer to work at all. They both offer more content and more direct access to that content thanks to their remotes, on- screen menus, and huge libraries of apps. They even support app control and local streaming from mobile devices, easily justifying their less- than- a- movie- ticket premiums over the Chromecast. At heart, they're both simply easier to use and offer more to consumers. In terms of Fire TV Stick versus Roku Streaming Stick, that's a trickier proposition. The Fire TV Stick is $1. Roku Stick offers HBO GO. Ultimately, it's a matter of taste unless you're an Amazon Prime member. Considering the generous libraries of movies, shows, and music available at your fingertips on the Fire TV Stick without diving into different apps, the perks of combining it with Prime membership makes it hard to beat. If you're not a regular Amazon customer, though, either device is easy to use and full of features for less than $5. Don't count Chromecast out, though. Its open- ended design makes it a fantastic playground for hackers who want an inexpensive media streamer they can tinker with. The Chrome tab and screen mirroring also makes it more functional for home users with a lot of media on their PCs but not as much on their smartphones or tablets. It even has potential for professional use, as it can display presentations and videos from your PC. And while it's still experimental, the new full- screen streaming feature turns the Chromecast into a $3. HDTV. In short: If you want to rig your HDTV for Netflix, Hulu Plus, and other streaming services, the Amazon Fire TV Stick or Roku Streaming Stick are your best bets, and between them it's a question of taste and brand loyalty (and premium subscription memberships). If you want the least expensive tech toy that lets you send whatever's on your monitor to your HDTV, go with the Chromecast.
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